Hypnotism
by Yorik
Summary: Young Yukishiro Enishi gets some extremely strange visitors at the dead of night...Follow his tumulous path as he leaves in search of his sister until beyond the Jinchuu arc. ON HIATUS
1. Chapter one

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Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and its characters are property of Noubirou Watsuki, VIZ, and other companies. I own nothing except the story.

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Hypnotism

Summary : Enishi is plagued by nightmares after his sister's death. He therefore seeks the help of a psychiatrist, who helps him come to terms with his relationship with her and the rest of the world.

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CLICK

"Tell me, child. What is troubling you?"

"I see dead people."

"Excuse me?"

"I can see things that no one else can see."

"What, er…give me a few examples of these… _'things'_"

"Right now, in this room?"

"Anywhere."

"I can see a woman standing behind you."

"A woman?"

"Yes."

"What does she look like?"

"She isn't very tall. I can't see her face because her hair is in the way."

"Oh? And is she saying anything?"

"No, she's just…"

"Just what?"

"She's just crying."

"Crying?"

"Yes."

"Do you know what about?"

"No."

"What else do you see?"

"In this room?"

"Anywhere, remember?"

"I see…"

"Yes?"

"I see…strange things."

"What are they?"

"I don't know."

"Okay…do they…do anything?"

"Yes."

"What, then?"

"They chase me."

"Chase you?"

"They grab hold of me and show me more…"

"More what?"

"More things."

"Such as…?"

"Terrible things. Murders, fires, fights…"

"And these…_things_, what do they look like?"

__

"Monsters."

"Monsters?"

"Sometimes they touch me."

"Oh?"

"And it hurts. It hurts a lot."

"What kind of pain?"

"It burns."

"Burns? Are there any marks?"

"Sometimes."

"Do you have any to show me now?"

"No, not now."

"Why not?"

"Then he'll come back."

"He? Who is this… '_He_'?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"He'll kill me if I do."

"What is his name?"

"He has no name."

"Then what do you call him?"

"I _don't_."

"Don't what?"

"I don't call him."

"Oh."

"He just comes."

"Okay…"

"…and he whispers in my ear…"

"What does he say?"

"He says….he says…."

"Yes?"

"He says that the sky is bleeding, and that I can't stop it."

"What else does he tell you?"

"Many things."

"Such as?"

"I can't tell you."

"All right…"

"What about those nightmares of yours?"

"Every night."

"Insomnia?"

"Its inescapable."

"What do you dream?"

"I meet **_him_** in my dream."

"And he speaks to you?"

"Yes."

"Then what?"

"Then he takes me down a long corridor…to this large, wooden door."  
  
"Mmhmm…"

"Then it opens…and I see…I see…"

"What do you see?"

"Blood."

"Excuse me, _blood_?"

"It's all over the place."

"So where are you now?"

"In a large room."

"How large?"

"Very large."

"Is there anything in this room besides the…uh…blood?"

"Yes."

"What is it, then?"

"Dolls."

"Dolls?"

"The room is lined with shelves…they're all filled with dolls."

"Oh…"

"And in the corner…in the darkest corner, I see I boy."

"A boy?"

"Yes."

"What does he look like?"

"I…I don't know…"

"Okay…"

"He looks like me, but he isn't."

"Why do you think this?"

"His eyes are bright and ghostly… his skin is so pale…and his hair…his hair is _white_."

"I thought you said he looked like you?"

"He does. His face is the same as mine."

"Curious. And does this boy…do anything?"

"He says things to me…and I can see his cheeks…they're stained with tears."

"What does he say?"

"He asks me to help him."

"And do you?"

"No. I just stand there."

"Then?"

"Then when I'm just about to ask him who he is and what he wants, I'm blinded by a brilliant flash of light. I fall and fall…and fall…"

"…And fall,"

"And I land in a forest that's covered in snow."

"What happens next?"

"It starts to rain."

"Rain?"

"A rain of blood."

"_More_ blood?"

"I can smell her."

"Smell whom?"

"My sister. The White plum is intoxicating."

"White plum?"

"It's her fragrance. What she wears."

"Next?"

"Then I look into the sky…and I can see her crying…"

"Crying?"

"…blood."

"What?"

"She cries blood. It stains the snow; my face and hands…"

"Enishi?"

"And the river nearby…it's awash in blood. Everything is dying. The trees, the animals, the flowers…"

"Does she tell you anything?"

"She tells me to make the rain of blood stop.

"And then?"

"Then I wake up."

**_CLICK_**

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This was inspired by a piece of work from my other fic, _Aoi kioku_. It is NOT a one-shot. So...tell me what u guys think of it!

Pu


	2. Chapter two

**Disclaimer: **Rurouni Kenshin and its characters are property of Noubirou Watsuki, VIZ, and other companies. I own nothing except the story.

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**Hypnotism**

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Chapter two

There was someone in his bedroom.

Enishi dug his nails into his fist whilst he debated whether or not to come out from under his bed sheet. _'come on,'_ he told himself. _'Be a man!'_. He heard a faint rustling noise and jumped. _'calm down…calm down…it was just nesaan…it was just-'_

_"Yukishiro…"_

Enishi broke into a cold sweat. A voice. He had just heard a voice. He swallowed nervously before cautiously raising himself up into a sitting position.

**Darkness.**

He couldn't see anything. The candle had long since died out, and there seemed to be no moon that night. Tomoe groaned beside him before rolling onto her back. He watched her for a few moments and then paused, wondering whether it was worth waking her up. She shivered. Enishi glanced at the window. He had been wrong. There _was_ a moon that night; it had just come out from behind a melancholy cloud. A gust of wind suddenly blew the curtains apart and a thin sliver of light fell onto the floor, staining it silver.

_"Yukishiro…"_

He spun round, his eyes wide and fearful. His yukata was damp with sweat. What was he to do? What should he- that was it!

"Nesaan!"

No response.

"Nesaan!"

He tried again, his voice a little more urgent. _"Nesaan!"_

"Akira, you know very well that I can't make it rain chickens….."

Enishi blinked. If he hadn't been so twitchy, he might have actually laughed. He decided to give it one last try. "Nesaan!" he hissed.

She merely groaned and rolled over. Enishi then spotted something jutting out from beneath her pillow.

**A dagger.**

With trembling fingers, the boy reached under his sister's head and gently tugged the object away, taking care not to wake her. A strangled chuckle escaped his lips. A few seconds ago, he had been trying to do exactly the opposite. He drew the knife from its seath, and the once silent room was filled with a soft, metallic ring. The light from the moon danced across its naked blade and formed small metallic pools on the ground. It was beautiful. Enishi ran his forefinger gently over it from top to bottom, spell bound. For a second he imagined himself as one of the samurai out fighting the war. He tilted the dagger slightly before making an exaggerated move. What did it feel like, he wondered, to be in the position of God – to take lives and save lives – what was it like to have that sort of power? It gleamed with what seemed like supernatural radience. Enishi couldn't remember being this entrapt in his entire life. It was almost as if he was under a spell; hypnotised by the whole idea.

_"Yukishiro…why have you forsaken me?"_

His hand faltered, and the dagger slipped, slicing his finger. He cried out in pain and alarm before suckling on his injured appendage.

_"Blood?"_

Enishi swirled around, dagger poised to strike. He saw nothing. Something brushed his back. _'Calm down…calm down, Enishi,'_ he told himself._ 'It's nothing but your imagination-"_

A soft chuckle. _"That's **your** blood, isn't it, Yukishiro?"_

He felt someone's breath tickle his neck. It was icy cold. Enishi shivered.

_"Now you know what it feels like, don't you?"  
_  
A frozen hand came to rest on his shoulder, and the being bent down to whisper into his ear.

_"Doesn't it sting?"_

He stiffened.

_"Are you in pain, beloved? Imagine how I felt then, Yukishiro."_

He whimpered.

_"You were the man who arranged it, weren't you?" _

Enishi finally found his voice. "Wh-who are you?"

The owner of the voice moved back suddenly. _"Who am I? Surely you haven't forgotten!"_

"What are you talking about?"

Enishi turned around and a strangled gasp escaped his lips. The woman – it was clearly a woman – was pale and surrounded by a ghostly aura. Her kimono was stained with what appeared to be a mixture of blood and dirt; yet otherwise looked perfectly fine. She smiled eerily.

_"You remember now, don't you?"_

"What?"

She frowned. _"It's me, beloved; Midori."_

Enishi swallowed the lump in his throat nervosly and began to back away. "N-nesaan!" he called. "Nesaan!"__

_"You're afraid, aren't you, Yukishiro?"_

He was desperate now. **_"Nesaan!"_**

****_"I was afraid too – I mean, one moment you're here, the next you're not!"_

She laughed.__

"G-go away!"

_"That man…what was his name, Yukishiro, beloved? Kiyosato, was it not?"  
_  
Enishi stopped sturggling. Kiyosato? That was the name of Tomoe's fiancee! He tightened his balled, trembling fist and decided to play along.

"Th-that's right," he said. "Kiyosato."

_"It's finally coming back to you, isn't it?"_

"Remind me."

She snorted._ "You told him you'd give his son your daughter's hand in marriage if he killed me, didn't you?"_

Enishi was speechless.

_"Answer me, Yukishiro Kagami!" _

Dread washed over him as he heard his father's name.

"M-my name is not Kagami."

**_"What?!"_**

A soft knocking on the shoji door brought him back down to earth. "Enishi? Enishi-kun, who are you talking to? It's past midnight!"A dull light lit up the corridor and soon the rice paper barrier slid open. It was the maid.

Enishi turned his head to look for the ghostly woman, but found no one. He shook his head. "No, it's nothing," he said, before rolling onto his back and falling into a deep, troubled sleep.

………………………………

"Otousan?"

No response.

"Otousan?"

His father looked up. "What?"

"Otousan, who's Midori?"

His father stiffened. _"Who?"_

Enishi shifted uncomfortably. "Midori."

Silence, then: "Why do you ask?"

"Because I-" then he stopped. It was highy probable that Yukishiro would not believe him. "No," he said, shaking his head, "it's nothing."

His father gave him an odd look. "Where did you hear that name?" His expression turned panicked. "Was it your uncle?"

"No, Otousan."

"Who was it, then?"

"It wasn't anybody," he insisted. _'Well,'_ he reasoned, this was at least slightly true. Techinically speaking, the woman from the night before **had** no earthly body (a/n: pun intended).

"Ah. Okay." Yukishiro Kagami, with a worried frown still crossing his aged features, went back to work. Enishi then turned on his heel, and left.

.................................**__**

**_CLICK_**

"Welcome back, Enishi. How are we feeling today?"

"Angry."

"Angry? Why?"

"That bastard. I'll **_kill_** him."

"Whom? Kill whom?"

"The bastard who stole my sister."

"And who is he?"

"Kiyosato Akira."

"Kiyosato? Isn't that-?"

_"-Filth. _Absolute filth

"Can you tell me why?"

"She never speaks to me anymore."

"And why do you think that is?"

"Because of him. All she ever talks about his him. I'm nothing to her…"

"Enishi?"

"…and it's all because of him."

"Why don't you just give him a chance?"

"Because he won't give me one. They never spare me a second glance."

"I'm sure that's not true. Your sister loves you very much-"

"I **_hate_** him."

"Well, moving on…now, what about your nightmares?"

"I haven't had many recently."

"Ah! That's an improvement!"

"Instead…"

"Instead?"

"She comes to me."

"She? So this time…it's a _woman?_"

"Her name is Midori."

"Midori…"

"She wants to hurt me."

"Why do you say that?"

"You can tell from the way she looks at me."

"What does she look like?"

"She has no defenite features…but she's short. Quite short. Her kimono is stained…"

"With what?"

"I…I don't know."

"Do you know her at all?"

"No; but my father does."

"Does he?"

"He must. She speaks of him every night. Sometimes, I think she mistakes me for him."

"Interesting…"

"I feel so relieved when she's gone.When she's standing beside me…with her hands on my shoulders…whispering into my ear…"

"Slow down a little bit-"

"…Everything's so _cold_…"

"Cold?"

"…and I feel…as if I'm never going to be happy again."

"Don't you try to wake your sister?"

"I've tried. It never works. She always sleeps right through it."

"And…this Midori, what does she say?"

"She actually addresses my father."

"But what does she say?"

"She speaks…of Kiyosato's father….and mine."

"Oh?"

"She says…that my father…asked Kiyosato to have her killed."

"Does she?"

"…and that… if Kiyosato kept his mouth shut…then his son would be bethroed to my sister."

"Surely you know that your father would do no such thing-"

"You never know anything these days."

"I see. Tell me, Enishi. How old are you?"

"Nine, going on ten."

"You're very…_insightful_ for a boy so young."

"Thank you."

"Now, why do you think she comes to you?"

****

**_"Jinchuu."_**

"What?"

"Earthly justice. I know I'd want it."

"You mean, revenge?"

"No, not revenge. Justice."

"Justice?"

"Justice is hard to come by in this world."

"While I agree with you…ahem! But that's besides the point!"

"And your point is?"

"What makes you think that, Enishi? You're very young. Surely you havent been made victim of some deed that requires you to attain _'Earthly Justice'_?!

"No, not really."

"Then from where do you get this foolish notion?"

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"Oh! No, no! Of course not!"

"I hear it from all the men who come to my father's office. Lots of them speak of the samurai in the war. The officials…they ask each other whether the royalists are winning or losing, but the others…the servants, the workers…they all speak of the samurai themselves; and how they are all fighting to fulfil the selfish desires of power-hungry politicians. They speak of the _'ultimate jinchuu._"

"Enishi…?"

"It's a very satisfying notion, isn't it?"

"Ah…umm…"

"I must go now. Neesan wanted me home by five."

"Alright."

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**_CLICK_**

**__**

A relatively odd chapter here. I tried and failed to make it spooky; don't kill me because I've use so many chiches : p

At first, I actually meant to complete the whole Midori story, to go up until the part where his father finds out about her host haunting him and they send her back to nirvana, whatever, but… I wanted to experiment a bit. If Enishi's father is unaware of his…_unique_ talent (if you can call it that), it gives more scope for a few more angst-filled chapters later on :D I mean, you can hardly get a good night's sleep with a ghost whispering stupid things into your ears all the while, can you? So if the czrazy ghost stays, Enishi gets weirder, that way I have more to write about! See? Everything's connected here, people!

If you have any ideas for later chapters you can just tell me through your reviews (HINT HINT) or you can email me at:

rampantgecko hotmail(dot)com

(There are spaces between the and the other two parts of the addy, by the way)

Yup, as pathetic as it sounds, I AM kinda running out of juice. QUENCH MY THIRST BY SENDING ME A REVIEW!!!

Pu


	3. Chapter three

**Disclaimer: **Rurouni Kenshin and its characters are property of Noubirou Watsuki, VIZ, and other companies. I own nothing except the story.

**Hypnotism**

**Summary:** Young Yukishiro Enishi gets some extremely strange visitors at the dead of night. Sanity, therefore, is hard to come by. (Goes through his life from when Tomoe leaves to the few years following the Jinchu arc.)

Chapter three 

"Did you hear? Kiyosato Akira is dead!"

"What!"

"How terrible!"

"It's all that Tomoe's fault. If she hadn't put so much pressure on him-"

"I agree. It's because of her that he felt he had to prove his worth by battling against those royalists-"

"Shh! What are you saying? If anyone feels his death it's Yukishiro's daughter. Poor dear…they meant to marry in the spring."

Enishi ignored the women's comments and slid into his sister's room. He half expected her to throw herself at him, either bawling her eyes out or laughing with pleasure once more, smiling only for him….but she didn't. She was a nobleman's daughter, trained to supress all emotion in any circumstance. She didn't do anything. Enishi became fairly alarmed.

"Nesaan?"

She didn't respond.

"Nesaan?"Enishi dropped to his knees and crawled over to her. He tried to look into her eyes. They were hollow and dead. "Nesaan?"

Silence.

"Why won't you talk to me?"

Something wet was trickling down her face. Were they…tears?

"Nesan? Please, please don't cry."

They were leaving soggy stains on her cheeks.

"Say something, nesan – please!"

"A…Akira…"

Enishi recoiled suddenly, as if stung. _"His name!"_ he spat incredulously. "Nesan, I don't quite understand what's wrong, but please! Forget him!"

She shook her head. Suddenly, it seemed as if the women's voices outside had become louder.

"Do they know who did it?"

"_Battousai."_

The name alone made Enishi's blood run cold. _'Battousai?'_ he wondered, his eyes widening. He had heard stories about the Hitokiri. Terrible stories. Fearsome stories.Stories of blood, gore and evil. He turned to face his sister, who had turned her head and angled it, listening, but still devoid of emotion.

"Battousai?"

"Yes. It happened while he was on duty, protecting Sekigara-sama."

Everyone knew the Battousai was evil. Anyone who would be mad enough to kill hundreds of people at a stretch _had_ to be. He was a monster. Inhuman. Unfeeling. Ruthless. Terrifying. A demon. **Immortal**.

That was how people described him. Gleaming eyes like fire that shone in delight every time he mowed a defenceless man down. He was someone who, according to legend, had never been touched by his opponent's blade. He was defenitely immortal, concluded Enishi, nervously twisting his fingers together. He shuddered. How was it that at the mere mention of the monster men would quiver in fear?

"Hitokiri…Battou..sai…"

Enishi's head snapped round as his sister spoke, and observed, with a little fear, how her eyebrows knit together. That was never a good sign.

"Nesaan?"

She didn't answer.

"Shall I tell them to go away, Nesaan? Would that make you feel better?"

She nodded.

He stood up, made his way to the shojii door and slid it open as hard as he could, hoping to give the women outside a nasty shock. He was successful.

"Please," he said, his voice cold and bitter, "please leave this place. You're making nesaan very sad. Go away."

He then promptly slammed the rice paper barrier shut.

…

Enishi decided that he wouldn't go to sleep that night. He was currently sitting on the porch, watching the evening dim into night. The bats had come out, and were swooping all over the garden . The faint sillhouettes of the trees against the darknening sky were accented by the misty clouds which swept over the horizon, tinted blue and gold. All in all, thought Enishi, it was rather picturesque. He wondered what Tomoe was up to. She hadn't left her room since she had heard the news, and frankly, it worried him to no end. All she did was sit there and stare at the wall. In fact, Enishi doubted the fact that she had even bathed. He wrinkled his nose in distaste before his eyes turned back to the swooping bats and misty clouds. He couldn't quite understand why she was so depressed. _He_ would never be depressed if anyone died. Enishi even wondered if that was a possibility. Sadness. Depression. Tears. They all seemed like pinpricks in the distance between his heart and mind. Would he cry, he mused, if his father died? Highly unlikely. His father had done nothing for him to be greatful about, really. His mother? Well, she was already dead, so it solved that part of the problem. His sister? Enishi paused for a moment to contemplate the thought. Would he cry if Tomoe died? Maybe he would, but then again, maybe not; he couldn't really tell.

A raven crowed in the distance. _An omen of death. _

Enishi felt oddly scared. The omnious caw of the bird registered, somewhere in the back of his mind, with the equally terrifying battle cry he imagined the Battousai to have. _Battousai._ Was he large and burly? He had to be, if he had the ability to take out so many at one time. Small scrawny children such as Enishi could never become so accomplished in their killing.

They had begun to light the lamps within the house by then. It looked pale and sickly in comparison to the light from the neighbour's homes a little while away, which Enishi had always seen to burn with a bright, warm glow. _'Perhaps,'_ he thought, the intensity of the light signified how welcome people were to a place; and it seemed to him that his theory was amazingly acurate. Almost no one was welcome to the Yukishiro household. A call for dinner drew his attention away from the night sky and towards the supper table. Then, deciding to put his thoughts on hold for a while, Yukishiro Enishi scrambled up from his seated position on the floor and made his way inside.

….

"_Hello, Yukishiro."_

Enishi shivered. Midori was back, whispering with her mouth to his ear again.

"_Missed me?"_

"Please," he murmured wearily. "Please, go away."

"_But Anata, I want to be with you."_

Enishi closed his eyes and waited for her to make her usual trip around his futon before she would eventually come to rest beside him. He hated her when she did that. Her face contorted into a grin devoid of any sanity whatsoever and she trailed her cold, misty fingers along his stomach. He shivered.

"_Are you cold, beloved?"_

"G-go away!"

"_Come, lets go somewhere nice and warm…like **hell.**"_

"Please, leave me alone!" he whimpered, clutching tighter and tighter onto his blanket.

She laughed._ "Precious, are you scared?"_

Enishi didn't answer.

She cupped his cheek with her hand, and a blast of cold shot down his spine. He felt as if his brain was freezing over. He was rather angry at himself for behaving so very much like a child, but he couldn't help it. She was terrifiying. Her eyes suddenly rolled into the back of her head, and Enishi finally snapped. He screamed.

Tomoe woke up with a start and peered groggily through the darkness in search of her little brother. She saw him, a few moments later, once her eyes had adjusted to the dim light.

"Enishi?"

"Leave… me…alone."

"Enishi?"

She crawled over to his futon and watched him tense as she sat beside him. "Enishi, What's wrong?"

It was then that he realised that the woman calling him was _not_ Midori, as he had feared, but his sister, finally free from her emotionless shell. He threw herself into her arms and grasped desperately at her yukata in panic, almost toppling her over.

"Nesaan!"

Tomoe brought up a comforting hand to her brother's head and stroked his hair soothingly. Never in her memory of him had he ever behaved in such a way, save from the time when he was five years old and had been chased by a swarm of bees. She gave his back a gentle pat and gently pulled him away from her. His eyes were closed.

"Enishi, Enishi? Did you have a nightmare?"

Silence for a moment, then: "Something like that."

"Open your eyes, aniki."

"No."

Tomoe frowned slightly. "Why not?"

"I don't want to see her again."

"Who, Enishi?"

"_Her."_

Tomoe sighed in defeat and drew her brother closer to her chest. "Lie down with me," she said, "and I'll make sure you never see her again."

Enishi buried his head deeper into her breast. Peace. Peace at last. He smiled against the thin fabric of her yukata.

"Neesan, thank you."

She grunted in response, and wrapped her arm tightly around his slender figure. "Sleep," she commanded, suddenly reminded of Akira's smiling face…his large, warm hands and deep voice.

"You won't ever leave me, will you, nesaan?"

He was met with silence, but knew that she was far from asleep.

………….

He couldn't quite believe it.

Last night her arms had encircled him while he slept, and that morning….she was gone. The letter she had left had not satisfied Enishi's curiosity in the least. He raised it to his line of vision and let his eyes skim over it for the upteenth time.

_Father, Enishi,_

_Please forgive me. I cannot remain here where there are so many painful reminders of mine and Akira's past. I would like to tell you that I am perfectly fine, but that would be a lie. That is why you must not interfere with my journey to Kyoto, where I hope to find answers to the many questions I have. _

_Enishi, look after your father and please be well. I am very proud of you._

_In sincere gratitude, _

_Yukishiro Tomoe_

….

**CLICK**

"Enishi…you're looking…troubled."

"She left."

"What? Who left?"

"Nesaan."

"Your sister? I don't quite understand."

"SHE LEFT ME!"

"Calm down, Yukishiro-kun! Where did she go?"

"Kyoto."

"Kyoto? Do you know why?"

"No. She didn't tell me.It wasn't in the letter."

"Letter?"

"This one. Look. What do you think about it?"

"…Well…I…"

"Why did she leave me?"

"She didn't leave you."

"But she isn't here!"

"That doesn't mean she's left you."

"It does!"

"Look, this should all be over within a few months. All you have to do, Enishi, is to concentrate on your education. It'll soon be over."

"I can't wait that long."

"Don't be silly-"

"You forget who you are adressing."

"Yes…yes…forgive me."

"Now, please continue."

"Look, Enishi, even if she doesn't come back, which I really doubt, you have to be strong for your family and honour your father. Your life shouldn't go to pieces just because your sister went to Kyoto."

"If she doesn't come back? So….are you saying that there is a possibility of that happening?"

"There is a possibility that anything can happen, Yukishiro-kun; you just have to accept fate."

"Fate…"

"So then. What will you do?"

"I will find her."

**CLICK**

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Woo hoo

Chapter three!

Sadly this chapter isn't as spooky as the last; more contemplative, I think. I'll try to get more supernatural gunk in there somehow.

I've had to reload this chapter owing to a rather careless mistake…so..sorry to all. Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed the last chapter. Really, this story is something I put so much effort into – much more than Aoi Kioku, and knowing that people actually care enough to criticize it makes me feel so good. Thanks, everyone!

Oh yeah…

Review please!

pu


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